Tool for repairing divots made by golf balls

ABSTRACT

A thermoplastic tool for digging into the turf of a golf course to repair a depression in the earth made by a golf ball. The tool has a V-shaped blade portion with a radiused puncture point and an integral handle with a transverse manipulating rib and a depressed area for advertising material in the handle.

United States Patent Inventor Fred C. Gossett 1437 Cleveland Road, Glendale, Calif. 91202 Appl. No. 776,531

Filed Nov. 18, 1968 Patented Nov. 9, 1971 TOOL FOR REPAIRING DIVOTS MADE BY GOLF BALLS 2 Claims, 5 Drawing Figs.

U.S. C1 172/371, 40/10 C.1l1/92, 273/32 B Int. Cl A0lb 1/00 Field 01 Search 172/371,

375, 381; 40/10 C; l 1 H4, 92; 30/324, 327; 259/D1G. 14; 273/32 B, 162 F [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,824,369 2/1958 Welch 30/324 3.120.388 2/1964 Doble 273/32 FOREIGN PATENTS 412.003 6/1934 Great Britain 40/10 610,435 10/1948 Great Britain 40/10 Primary ExaminerClyde 1. Coughenour At1orney-Larry N. Barger ABSTRACT: A thermoplastic tool for digging into the turf of a golf course to repair a depression in the earth made by a golf ball. The tool has a V-shaped blade portion with a radiused puncture point and an integral handle with a transverse manipulating rib and a depressed area for advertising material in the handle.

1 TOOL FOR REPAIRING DIVOTS MADE BY GOLF BALLS This invention relates to a tool for fixing small earth depressions, called divots," made by a golf ball. A divot often occurs when a golf ball hits the ground after being hit by a golfer. A divot is in the form of a small cup-shaped depression approximately the size of a golf ball or slightly larger. Good golfing ethics requires that a golfer repair his divot by digging into the depressed earth and smoothing out the turf so that a subsequent golfers ball rolling over the divot is not deflected by a cup-shaped depression.

in the past, many different devices have been used to repair divots. Many golfers use a golf tee, but these tees are usually too short to do any effective job. Also, since a tee has a round head, it is difficult to control when digging in the turf.

l have invented an improved tool for repairing divots, which tool has a flat V-shaped plastic blade and an integral handle with a transverse rib at its top to make the tool easy to grasp and manipulate. The blade portion of the tool has edges which converge toward a puncture point, and this puncture point has a smooth rounded tip that is sufficiently sharp to dig into the earth, but sufiiciently blunt so as not to tear clothing. There is also a depressed area in the handle for advertising material.

Perhaps, the invention will be better understood with reference to the following drawings in which:

FIG. I is a sectional perspective view of a golf course turf showing a divot made by a golf ball;

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the tool of this invention;

F IG. 3 is a side elevational view of the tool of this invention;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 2, and

HO. 5 is a sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 2.

Referring to these drawings, FIG. 1 shows the section of the turf onto which a golf ball 2 has just been hit. When the golf ball struck the ground it made a small cup-shaped depression 3, called a "divot." FIG. 1 shows the tool 4 ready to dig into the divot and raise its surface to the level of the surrounding turf.

The tool is shown in enlarged views in FIGS. 2 and 3. The tool includes a blade portion 5 which has a front face 6 and a rear face 7 and these faces converge slightly toward the puncturing point 8 to aid in digging the turf. The blade also has a pair of side edges 9 and 10 that converge more sharply toward the puncturing point 8 to give the blade a generally V shape, and these edges form an angle of between 10 and 30. The puncturing point 8 has a radiused tip shown by the arrow in FIG. 2, said radius being at least 0.020 inch so that the tool can be safely carried in a golfers pocket without tearing his pocket.

integrally formed with the blade is a flat handle 11 which has a front wall 12 and a rear wall 13 with a convexly curved upper edge 14 and also convexly curved side edges 15 and 16. This gives the entire tool a generally teardrop configuration. To help in manipulating the tool, both the front wall 12 and the rear wall 13 have protruding arcuate ribs 17 and 18 that closely follow the contour of the upper and side edges of the handle. When a golfer is digging in the turf, these ribs provide friction when grasped between his thumb and forefinger to the tool does not readily slip in his hand.

Each wall of the handle also has a depressed area, 19 and 20 indicating them respectively. The depressed areas are adapted to contain advertising indicia 21. Preferably, the advertising indicia is in the form of raised thermoplastic letters which are integral with the handle. These raised letters also add friction with the golfers hand when the tool is manipulated.

The tool of this invention can readily be injection molded for thermoplastic materials, such a polystyrene, polyethylene, polypropylene, etc.

In the foregoing specification 1 have used a specific example to illustrate my invention. However, persons skilled in the art will know how to make certain modifications to this example without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

1 claim:

1. A tool for repairing an earth depression made by a golf ball, said tool comprising: a one-piece thermoplastic member having a blade with edges that converge to form an angle of 10 to 30 between the edges as they proceed toward a puncturing point that has a radius of at least 0.020 inch, whereby the tool can be safely carried in a clothes pocket without a protective cover on the puncture point; and a handle integrally formed with an upper end of the blade, said handle having a front wall, a rear wall, and a protruding rib on each of the front and rear walls, said ribs being adjacent upper and side edges of the handle to provide a gripping ridge for manipulating the tool; said handle having a convexly curved upper edge and convexly curved side edges which give a generally teardrop shape; and a depression in each front and rear wall of the handle, and depressions being bounded by the ribs and adapted to have advertising indicia therein.

2. A tool as set forth in claim 1, wherein the handle has indicia that are located in at least one of the depressions, and these indicia are raised letters integral with the handle, thus reducing slippage of the handle when grasped between a golfers thumb and forefinger. 

1. A tool for repairing an earth depression made by a golf ball, said tool comprising: a one-piece thermoplastic member having a blade with edges that converge to form an angle of 10* to 30* between the edges as they proceed toward a puncturing point that has a radius of at least 0.020 inch, whereby the tool can be safely carried in a clothes pocket without a protective cover on the puncture point; and a handle integrally formed with an upper end of the blade, said handle having a front wall, a rear wall, and a protruding rib on each of the front and rear walls, said ribs being adjacent upper and side edges of the handle to provide a gripping ridge for manipulating the tool; said handle having a convexly curved upper edge and convexly curved side edges which give a generally teardrop shape; and a depression in each front and rear wall of the handle, and depressions being bounded by the ribs and adapted to have advertising indicia therein.
 2. A tool as set forth in claim 1, wherein the handle has indicia that are located in at least one of the depressions, and these indicia are raised letters integral with the handle, thus reducing slippage of the handle when grasped between a golfer''s thumb and forefinger. 